Editor's Note: (Julian Zelizer is a history and public affairs professor at Princeton University, editor of "The Presidency of Barack Obama: A First Historical Assessment" and co-host of the "Politics & Polls" podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @julianzelizer. The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author. View more opinion articles on CNN.)
(CNN) The Emmy nominations have been announced. The list for best drama includes many predictable entries, such as "Game of Thrones" and "The Crown." And there are some newcomers in the comedy category like "Barry" and "Glow." There is of course some Emmy controversy, including whether the last season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" deserved a nomination or if "Killing Eve" should have been given a spot.
But the biggest snub of all was not of a Hollywood production. How did President Donald Trump's White House reality series get left off the list? His presidency is a show that is a drama, a comedy, and, for many Americans, a tragedy. More than any President in recent memory, Trump has made his time in office the constant focus of national attention, a spectacle usually viewed through a television or smartphone screen. The country is riveted -- and many are horrified -- wondering what will come next. Screens everywhere -- at the gym, at the airport -- are filled with ongoing stories about this political drama in Washington.
This has been an essential element to how Trump has governed. He uses television as the central mechanism to command public attention. He even depends on television -- namely the Fox News network -- as a key source for his daily script. The national conversation has been shaped through his Twitter stream, his tweets quickly making their way onto the television networks. He also provides provocative actions and statements to keep the nation tuned in. As someone who made part of his fame in shock-and-awe reality television ("The Apprentice") and who reportedly watches four to eight hours of television a day -- a claim the President has denied -- Trump knows what will play and he understands his audience.
His televised presidency has made it virtually impossible for any other political figure to compete with him. Every major story — the failed relief effort in Puerto Rico, the crackdown on undocumented immigrants, the fate of gun control legislation -- is pushed aside by the latest Trump drama.
Indeed, all the elements of a popular show are present in this White House. Trump remains the quintessential antihero, as he was during the campaign. He is the character viewers can't resist tuning in to see. His supporters love to watch him take on all the guardians of the establishment. His opponents can't stop watching so that they can vent about how much they hate what he is doing and everything that he represents. He is J.R. Ewing, Tony Soprano, Dexter Morgan, Don Draper, Walter White, Gregory House and Ray Donovan all wrapped up in one.
But all good dramas and comedies need a supporting cast. The President filled his White House with a cast of characters who are almost made for fiction. There is Kellyanne Conway, the cagey senior counselor to the President who disappears from the public stage only to re-emerge in the spotlight in times of political crisis. His daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump and his quiet son-in-law Jared Kushner (also a senior adviser) seem to be shaping foreign policy behind the scenes, while both of their businesses enter into deals -- seemingly linked to policies happening in the White House -- that seem to many as highly unethical, if not corrupt.
Former "cast members" Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt and Health And Human Services Secretary Tom Price were living the high life on the public dime, while they quietly enacted massive changes in policy, all before being brought down from power.
There were ongoing stories about parlor intrigue, including the fierce competition between Kushner and then-White House chief strategist Steve Bannon -- later fired -- to gain the ear of the President on issues like foreign policy. We have learned about the fights among the flotilla of lawyers who have competed to sway the President on how he should handle the Russia investigation.
And then there is Rudy Giuliani, also a part of Trump's legal team, who provides entertaining and stunning soundbites on a weekly basis.
The Russia investigation has been a storyline that a fiction writer would think implausible. Just after President Trump dissed NATO allies, and as he gets ready for a high profile meeting with Vladimir Putin, we learn from the Department of Justice that 12 Russian nationals have been indicted for their efforts to hack the emails and computer systems of the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 campaign. It has been almost a full year and a half since the election and the public keeps learning about the multitude of contacts between Russian oligarchs and state officials and the Trump campaign.
Former officials (Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Rick Gates) have been indicted and pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about having contact with Russians during the campaign. Paul Manafort, Trump's former top campaign manager, has been sent to prison with a mug shot for the public to see. He is awaiting trial for bank fraud and crimes that occurred before the election, though he has pleaded not guilty. And Robert Mueller has been working with a team of diligent lawyers to get to the truth even as he is attacked in the media, and Republican stalwarts on Capitol Hill do their best to discredit the investigation.
If unpredictability is a virtue in television, President Trump provides this almost every day. It is impossible to know what he will do next, whether it is lambasting NATO allies at a high-profile summit or tweeting insulting nicknames about foreign leaders who are building nuclear weapons. He is willing to say almost anything, such as denigrating the #metoo movement that is combating sexual assault and violence, and standing up to those asking him to condemn white nationalist racism.
His Twitter feed provides an almost daily political cliffhanger that most television series usually have at the end of a season. Nobody is talking about who is getting killed next on "How to Get Away With Murder" or whether "Breaking Bad's" Walter White would finally meet his fate. No. Now all the talk is about what Trump will do next. He is the new water cooler conversation.
All this would be funny if it wasn't so serious. After all, this isn't a television show, it's the American presidency. The fact that the two have morphed into one has massive political and policy repercussions. This is why an entire nation literally tunes in to see how this all ends. Will this show finally jump the shark or will the nation extend it for one more season?